This Just In...

Fidel Castro - living or dead? It puts me in mind of the long-running gag for Chevy Chase way back in the golden years of Saturday Night Live: "Despite Franco's death and an expected burial tomorrow, doctors say the dictator's health has taken a turn for the worse," and "This just in: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."
The Communist leadership assured Cubans on Friday that Raul Castro was in firm control as acting president, and the health minister said Fidel Castro was "recovering satisfactorily" from intestinal surgery. In a related story, online gamblers are placing bets on which day or month the 79-year-old Cuban president will die, the Miami Herald reported. Those placing $100 on Castro dying this month will reap $350 if he does. Those betting $100 he'll die in December will take home $600 if they're correct.
Thinking that sounds like some good action? Let's keep in mind who this guy is, and what he's already lived through. Castro has been Comandante in Cuba since 1959. He survived the Bay of Pigs 35 years ago, and the Missile Crisis the following year, and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union - Cuba's closest ally. There have been countless attempts on his life over the years, as well as his manhood (the CIA allegedly has been after that beard of his for decades). His idea of fresh blood for a successor comes in the form of his 75-year-old brother, Raul - who hasn't been seen for several days either.
August 13 is Fidel's 80th birthday, and if I were a betting man, I would put money on him showing up just to put a twist in everybody else's knickers.